After World War II, Albert Camus presented a “tremendous gamble” to those who had survived a tragedy of immense proportions. “We are up to our necks in history,” he observed, but we must bet that “words are more powerful than ammunition.”

“Go or die” are the terrible words threatening the largely unprotected Palestinian civilians in Gaza, while dismayed populations around the world demand moral decency, or at least some modicum of reason, from their unresponsive governments.

The stakes could not be higher. For decades, Israel has flouted international norms by refusing to recognize its nuclear arsenal. Nor has it signed relevant treaties governing the biological weapons it possesses. For years, Israel has blatantly violated the Geneva Conventions and basic principles of customary international law by forcibly seizing territory in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and by relocating Israeli settlers to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel’s genocidal attacks on Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip have now claimed the lives of at least 39,677 people. Tens of thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble, at least 90,000 people have been injured, and the majority of the 1.9 million displaced population is at risk of starvation.

Israel’s refusal to comply with international treaties and international humanitarian law is a sign that other countries urgently need to impose arms embargoes, end trade agreements and support civilian peacekeepers to achieve a lasting ceasefire.

The United States continues to arm and protect Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.

We must try to understand what it means to be a refugee living in an open-air concentration camp – which was already one of the most densely populated areas on earth, even before 70 percent of the housing was destroyed. More than 341 mosques and three churches were destroyed. 2,000-pound bombs were dropped on tents in areas that were considered safe.

Innocent civilians are being killed by snipers. 31 out of 36 hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. Escape routes are cut off. Constant restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza and the surrounding area are leading to dramatic shortages of food, fuel and medicine. While access to humanitarian aid is deliberately cut off, children are being collectively punished while Israeli leaders condemn them as animals. The world watches in horror as surgeons are forced to amputate the limbs of injured children without any available anesthetics.

While Israel vaccinates its soldiers, a new polio epidemic breaks out, but Palestinian civilians remain unprotected. Recently released prisoners report being subjected to torture, including waterboarding and rape.

Instead of bringing the suspects before international courts, Israel is resorting to assassinating the very negotiators with whom it supposedly wants to make peace – in a manner that is clearly aimed at escalating the conflict into a global war involving nuclear powers.

In his authoritative Report on Israel’s settlement policy and practicethe International Court of Justice clearly declared the Israeli settlement project in the occupied territories illegal. The Court stressed the obligation of all parties to the Geneva Convention and the Genocide Convention to cease any economic or commercial relations with Israel that could contribute to maintaining the Israeli occupation and illegal presence in the territory. Countries that have signed or ratified these agreements are obliged to immediately cease their arms exports to Israel and to use their political, military and economic influence to stop Israel’s blatant, escalating violations of international humanitarian law.

The International Court of Justice has condemned Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in clear and unequivocal terms. As was the case during the Vietnam War, ordinary citizens can no longer tolerate the lawless barbarity of the ongoing attacks on Palestinians.

“Rolling the bones” is a colloquial expression for gamble. With regional war in the Middle East now perhaps inevitable, the genocidal madness of the United States and Europe over Israel’s actions could well lead to a nuclear war that wipes out humanity. Failure to use our words at this crucial moment for humanity would, as Camus said, be a tremendous gamble indeed.